


Burned Out

by jessicaltx



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Dream Smp, Dream Team SMP Angst (Video Blogging RPF), Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Mild Hurt/Comfort, techno needs to admit he likes having ranboo around, they're just trying their best, you can't tell me he wouldn't move mountains to protect him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-12 22:35:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29641719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessicaltx/pseuds/jessicaltx
Summary: Since Ranboo has moved onto the same land that Technoblade resides with Phil, the man hasn't known how to feel about the hybrid living so close. Techno has convinced himself enough that Ranboo is 'just a tenant' and all in all, he belongs to Phil because Phil was the one who brought him home - and besides, being a big brother figure never really worked out for him before. But when Techno finds Ranboo, curled up and passed out in his yard, the man can't help but feel some kind of responsibility towards him, a responsibility to take care of him and make sure he's safe. Maybe Ranboo isn't just a tenant after all?
Relationships: Ranboo & Technoblade
Comments: 2
Kudos: 190





	Burned Out

**Author's Note:**

> Check out my Twitter @uhhjessa for more things like this! I write Dream SMP theories, headcanons and minifics on there most of the time and I'm always creating some kind of theory for the SMP lore!

The air was bitter and cold, the sign of an approaching snowstorm, as Techno slowly approached home after spending most of his afternoon exploring the land around his area, maybe looking for something that he hadn’t discovered yet, chests that hadn't been looted, or something he had missed on his previous explorations. His pack of dogs he had decided to let tag along on his journey were a few paces ahead of him, racing each other towards the house and their kennels.

Techno would never have admitted it to anyone - so it was a good job there was nobody else there with him - but as he got closer and closer to his home and Ranboo’s small, wooden, makeshift shack came into focus, he found himself looking for the boy.

Ranboo had been missing when Techno had left for his exploration, nowhere to be seen in his shack or on the land around his house, but Ranboo did that sometimes, disappear for long periods of time without telling anyone where he was going or what he was doing. But Techno wasn’t worried about him, no, of course, he wasn’t. Ranboo was just a tenant, just another lost kid that Phil had adopted and taken under his parental wing. He was just watching out for him while Phil was away.

Yeah, that was it. He was just watching out for him for Phil, making sure nothing happened.

The closer Techno got to home, as he saw the kennel and the front steps come into focus, his polar bears still rallied up outside, he noticed the absence of a large number of the dogs he had brought with him.

He had absolutely brought more dogs than this? Where had they gone?

Scanning his eyes across the land in front of him - as he was looking, he noticed this was the first time that season that the ground hadn’t been completely covered in snow - he realised where all of his dogs were; hunched up in a pack, gathered around one singular patch of land, huffing and sniffing around a still, unconscious form. 

Techno didn’t even try to stop himself when he felt his pace begin to quicken.

Of course, it was Ranboo. Who else was it going to be? Why would anyone else even be near his house? Techno couldn’t deny the fact that a flower of panic bloomed in his chest as he reached the boy, his body hunched into a ball on the grassy floor, eyes shut. He was trembling and Techno couldn’t figure out whether it was from the cold or from something else. When he reached the curled up hybrid, he knelt down beside him immediately, concern still swimming in his eyes.

Techno placed a hand on Ranboo’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly, to no response, which bloomed an extra painful flower of panic in Techno’s chest - Ranboo wasn’t big on physical touch, he usually shied away from it, so to gain no response to Techno’s hand on him was concerning. He was somewhere else, buried within unconsciousness.

Techno didn’t know why he was panicking, he just was. Ranboo had told him that sometimes this happened, these small moments of unconsciousness when he became overly stressed, moments that he didn’t remember once he had woken, but what if this wasn’t one of those moments? What if this was something else, something more sinister? Techno couldn’t risk leaving him out here, especially not with the snowstorm maybe just minutes away.

Puffing out a sigh through gritted teeth, trying to breathe out his panic enough to stop shaking - when had he started shaking? - Techno reached down to slip his arms beneath the boy’s body, lifting him up off the soon-to-be snow-covered ground. Even with this mass amount of physical contact, Ranboo’s eyes stayed closed and Techno tried to ignore the weird stabbing of anxiety in his chest when he stayed still.

For once, Techno wished Ranboo was skitting about his yard like a nervous kitten.

Techno felt his feet unconsciously carrying him towards the front steps of his home when the first few snowflakes began to fall from the sky and land periodically on his face. He felt the cold of them and tried to do his best to shield any exposed skin of Ranboo’s with the hem of his cloak, from the fast-falling snowflakes - he didn’t quite know exactly what snow did to the boy, he had never seen it snow while he had been living in his yard, but he assumed, with snow just being frozen water, that it had a similar effect as water.

Techno clicked down the door handle of the dog kennel as he passed the doorway, allowing his pack to skitter their way into their home and out of the snow. He didn’t bother to close the door behind him, knowing one of the pups would push the door closed with their paws - they were smart like that. They were, after all, _his_ dogs.

Carrying the hybrid boy into his home, he huffed out a sigh of relief when he peeked through one of his windows. The snow was falling quick and fast now and there was already a light coating of it covering the land that surrounded the house. If Techno hadn't come back when he did, maybe… no, he wasn’t going to think about that.

He had come back and he had found him. Ranboo was safe with him.

Techno navigated his way through his house and to the ladder leading to the top floor of his home - the ladder proved to be a slight issue while carrying a whole human being in his arms but if anybody was going to end up with a bump or a bruise, it was definitely going to be him, not Ranboo - and when he was safely in his bedroom, balanced on his feet at the top of the ladder, he released his grip on Ranboo and gently lowered him on top of the sheets of his bed, feeling the panic tug at his chest when the boy still made no reaction to the physical contact but trying to push it down.

Techno knew there was probably a reasonable explanation for this. He knew there was no need to be getting so worked up, he just couldn't help it.

Techno knew there was no use ruffling Ranboo up to try and cover his frail form with a blanket, so against every nerve in his body which was telling him it was too cold to do so, Techno slipped off his red cape from around his shoulders and gently covered Ranboo’s still trembling, but not as much as when he was outside, frame.

Puffing out a sigh of relief as he did so, Techno sat back against the wall of his home, knees pulled up to his chest as he watched and waited. He didn’t know how long he would need to wait, how long he would need to keep an eye on the unconscious boy in his bed, but he wasn’t about to up and walk away, leaving him in a place he was pretty unfamiliar with, especially after the state he had found him in outside.

So Techno waited. He sat, waiting and watching, observing the snow from out of the window as it tumbled to the ground, spattering across the window like small, white stars, listening to the soft sounds of his dogs barking in the kennels at one another, the sound quiet from so high up but still reaching his ears. Every now and again he would look back to Ranboo, watched the gentle rise and fall of his chest, and tried to work out what had happened, but nothing came to him.

Techno didn't know enough about Ranboo to know why certain things happened to him.

He watched and he waited for over an hour until he saw movement from the corner of his eye and realised that Ranboo was beginning to arouse from whatever unconscious state he had been in.

Techno couldn’t deny that he was nervous. There was every opportunity for the hybrid to freak out on him, become severely anxious at being in a place he had never spent more than five minutes in before, and just lose it, but Techno couldn’t leave him to figure it out by himself. Ranboo was going to have questions. Techno had some too.

So he waited, watching as Ranboo’s once-still form began to toss and turn underneath Techno’s cape. He seemed uncomfortable. He watched every small move the boy made, ready to jump up at any given moment if he looked as if he was about to freak out. He waited until, after just moments of unconscious movement, Ranboo’s eyes fluttered open and his gaze fell immediately on Techno. It took a moment for it to register in his mind where he was.

“Hey, buddy.” Techno smiled at him softly, seeing the panic flash briefly in Ranboo’s eyes but knowing, for some reason, that he wasn’t going to run. “How’re you feeling?”

Ranboo stayed stock still for a moment before he slowly began to sit up in Techno’s bed. He seemed stiff, almost like it hurt to move, but Techno didn’t make a move to aid him in any way, knowing he would probably flinch away from him if he tried to move towards him too quickly.

Techno could see Ranboo’s eyes flashing to each corner of his bedroom, taking everything in and trying to figure out where he was and whether he was safe. Techno had shown Ranboo his bedroom only once before, and it hadn't been for very long, so this was all going to be very new for him.

“You’re okay, I swear.” Ranboo looked up towards Techno’s neck as the man leant his head back against the wall, relaxing, trying to look as non-threatening as he possibly could. He didn’t want to frighten him any more than he already was. “You're in my house, in my bedroom. You’re safe.”

“Wha-” Ranboo paused to lift his hands in front of his face, almost as if he was looking for something - Techno noticed he had dirt under his nails and he wondered whether before he had passed out, Ranboo had been trying to use his power of being able to pick up blocks of grass whole to ground himself. “What happened? I mean, I can’t-”

Ranboo stopped talking, puffing out a shaky breath between his teeth, but Techno didn't need the whole sentence. Ranboo didn't remember, he had gathered that much.

“I found you passed out outside the house.” Techno tried to shuffle closer to the boy - he was trembling slightly and Techno was worried he was going to fall forwards off the bed and wanted to be there to catch him if he did - and Ranboo made no move to slide away from him, so Techno took it as a win. “It was about to start snowing and I couldn’t just leave you out there alone so I brought you into the house.”

Ranboo stayed quiet, looking between Techno and the ground before his feet. He seemed worried about something and Techno wanted to ask him about it before he moved to speak again. Techno wouldn’t speak over him, not in this moment. He needed to give Ranboo as much freedom as possible right now as not to make him feel trapped.

“Did I-did I go anywhere?” Ranboo’s voice was still trembling as he spoke.

Techno knew he was talking about his moments of unconsciousness that he didn’t remember. Techno didn’t know whether he had gone anywhere before he had found him, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud to him. There was no need to make him anxious. Ranboo was clearly nervous enough already.

“What, just now?” Techno looked at him briefly, not meeting his eyes - he remembered that Ranboo hated direct eye contact. “Not that I know of. The door has been locked and I’ve been here the whole time. Why, were you planning on going somewhere?”

“No, um- no I wasn’t.” Ranboo shook his head, looking unsure again. “It’s okay.”

“Alright then.” Techno wasn’t going to push him to talk more about it. He was clearly uncomfortable. “I don’t want you going back out into the shack tonight, okay? There’s a storm outside and I want to keep an eye on you so you can stay in here with me.”

Ranboo nodded. There was a silence between them as Techno made moves to stand, stretching to relieve some of the aches he was feeling in his shoulders from leaning up against the wall for so long. He made his way towards the ladder to the lower floors of his home until he felt a hand grip onto his wrist. The contact made him jump as he turned around to see Ranboo clinging onto the fabric around his wrist, looking surprised he was doing it himself.

“Will you-” the boy cleared his throat lightly- “will you stay? I don’t want to be alone.”

Techno felt his heart tug but he tried not to show it. He may not have known much about Ranboo, but he knew enough to know the boy wasn't big on admitting that he needed help, admitting that he needed someone to be there for him.

“I have a couple of things I need to do in the house but I promise you I’ll just be a few floors away.” Techno leaned up against the wall beside his ladder as if it would collapse if he didn’t. “If you feel well enough to come with me, you can, but if not, that’s okay too. And when I’m done, I swear I’ll come right back up here again.”

Ranboo paused, gaze flicking between Techno and the floor before he shook his head slowly. He hesitated before leaning back against the wall beside Techno’s bed, chin resting on his chest. He looked exhausted and Techno was almost glad he had rejected his offer to come with him. He was worried the boy would topple if he tried to stand.

“You’ll be just a few floors away?” Ranboo’s voice was quiet, almost nervous.

“Just a few floors away, I promise.” Techno shot the boy a gentle smile, reaching up to ruffle his hair between his fingers. Techno expected him to flinch away from the touch but he almost leant into it, giggling softly, and Techno’s heart plummeted. “I’ll be doing some trading, I'll lock up for the night and in about twenty minutes I’ll come back up, I swear.”

Ranboo nodded again, significantly reassured and Techno, knowing he was free to leave, began to slowly make his way down the ladder again towards the chores he had to do in the rest of the house. He felt eyes on him the whole time but the gaze felt soft. As he went, he heard the gentle shuffling of Ranboo getting himself comfortable again and Techno couldn’t help but smile to himself.

Phil may have brought Ranboo out of a dark place and Techno may have been opposed to having him live basically in the backyard but he knew deep down that the boy wasn’t too bad. He just needed a home, a safe place, needed people to care for him.

And Techno was willing to be that person if needs must. He would do it for him.


End file.
